


Waking Up Is Hard To Do

by koalaxninja



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 20:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2360735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalaxninja/pseuds/koalaxninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo wakes up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waking Up Is Hard To Do

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this beautiful piece of work by lorna-ka on tumblr: http://lorna-ka.tumblr.com/image/98004072823

There wasn't a place on Leo that didn't ache. Nothing had been spared the fury of the Foot, and Shredder. He had half been expecting to wake up (if he had awoken at all) to the hard, dark cells of Shredder's dungeons. But there was moonlight coming in through the window above him and he was laying on a soft couch, not a cold cement floor. The supposed safety only made him more wary though, and in his exhausted state, that wariness was turning quickly into panic. He couldn't move, could barely turn his head, breathing was hard, too hard...

"Leo?" 

With a word, Leo felt his panic slip away. He recognized his brother's voice, could place Raphael anywhere. And then suddenly, there he was, staring down at Leo with wide green eyes, alive and whole. 

“Raph,” Leo sighed, relieved. He wanted to reach up and touch his brother, just to make sure he was actually there, but Leo remembered a second too late why Raph was hovering over him in the middle of the night. Raph noticed the aborted movement though and gently enfolded Leo's hand in both of his. 

"You don't know how good it is to see you awake, bro," Raph said in a low, gravelly voice. "It's the one bit of good news we've had since we left New York."

"Left...?" Leo asked, his voice trailing off into a string of agonizing coughs that seemed to move pieces of his chest that Leo, even without Donnie's knowledge of biology, was certain were supposed to stay still. Raph ducked out of Leo's sight just long enough to grab a glass of water. He held it up to Leo's mouth with a stern look that quelled Leo’s pride before it even appeared, and Leo took a grateful sip. He was too tired to be embarrassed. 

"We escaped New York," Raph said, putting the glass down when Leo finally settled back into the couch. "Kraang won. The city's destroyed. Luckily April's folks kept a house out in the country. We're miles from anyone up here."

"Where're Mike and Don?" Leo asked. The news of their failure was horrifying, but he was too exhausted to even turn his head, putting all his strength into focusing dull eyes on Raph kneeling on the floor next to him. The night was casting everything in blue shadows, erasing Raph’s normal red and green.  _My color_ , Leo thought. Strange to see it on Raph. 

"Above and below you, bro," Raph answered with a ghost of a smile. "Mike crawled on top of the couch while Don was fixing you up and Don passed out the second he finished. I just moved him over a little so I could check on you."

Focusing, Leo could make out Mikey's quiet snores down by his feet, Donnie's whistling breathing closer to his shoulder. He couldn't muster the strength to move his head to see them, but hearing them was relief enough. "Everyone... alright?" Leo whispered. His tongue felt too big for his mouth and there was a splitting headache growing between his eyes. 

"You're the only one who got in a fight with every enemy we've ever had, you dork," said Raph, his harsh words softened by his gentle tone and the fact that he still hadn't let go of Leo's hand. Leo only got a flash of a smile though before Raph dropped his gaze and seemed to draw into himself again. 

"What is it?” Leo asked, dreading the answer. He had failed so much already, what else could Raph still be keeping from him?

“Don’t worry about it,” said Raph, shrugging off the question, but he wouldn’t meet Leo’s eyes anymore. “You just focus on you right now, bro. Donnie said… It’ll be fine. Just get some rest, okay? We’ll all be here when you wake up.”

“Where’s Master Splinter?” Leo asked, fighting to keep his eyes open. He never heard Raph’s answer that night.


End file.
